"Residents in northern Mexico protest over delays in cleaning up a mine spill", 06 December 2023

...Residents in Mexico’s northern state of Sonora...protested against what they said is the government’s continued failure to clean up an almost decade-old mine spill.

At a news conference held outside government offices in Hermosillo, the state capital, members of the local advocacy group the Sonora River Basin Committee described the situation as a health crisis that authorities continue to ignore...

Nine years ago, millions of gallons of toxic waste flooded from Grupo México’s Buenavista mine into the Sonora and Bacanuchi rivers...

In September, Mexico’s environment department released a report describing “alarming” levels of pollution around the spill. Then the following month Albores announced the department had filed a legal complaint against Grupo México for failing to pay for the damage.

Since then what was the only remaining water treatment plant in operation closed at the end of November...

The environmental department and a spokesperson for Grupo México declined to comment on Tuesday’s protest or give any updates on the government’s legal complaint.

The mining company’s spokesperson referred to an October news release in which the company declined responsibility for pollution in the region.

“The environmental conditions and integrity of the Sonora and Bacanuchi river ecosystems are the same as they were before the 2014 accident,” read the statement. “The Sonora river region has suffered the effects of continuous disinformation campaigns ... causing fear and unfounded distrust”...